


Fever Dreams

by ToastyToaster22



Series: Toasty's Digi AU Dump [3]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Only AU in that Natsuko actually takes time off work, Sickfic, Vomiting, hah, workaholic parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToastyToaster22/pseuds/ToastyToaster22
Summary: Takeru stared out into the fog. The others were there, milling about on the fringes of his vision. This was fine. Everything was fine. He just needed to find Hikari. He couldn't remember why, but he did.
Relationships: Takeru Takaishi & Natsuko Takaishi
Series: Toasty's Digi AU Dump [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605736
Kudos: 27





	Fever Dreams

Takeru walked through the fog unconcerned with the lack of visibility. The others were all around, their shapes hardly distinguishable through the mists, their voices muffled. The bearer of Hope knew where he was going. His best friend of nearly eight years sat at a table where the fog thinned slightly. The boy opened his mouth in greeting, but Hikari did not seem to hear him. She sat facing away from him, as if transfixed on something he could not see. Their friends would not draw near.

Takeru sat in the chair beside her, always happy to see Hikari, even if she was not paying attention to him. He smiled at her; she was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed he had joined her. Not wanting to startle her, Takeru laid a gentle hand on her back.

He immediately pulled it back in horror.

His hand was cold and damp.

Hikari had not moved. Inexplicable terror rose inside Takeru. This meant something. Something important, but his brain was not cooperating. Instead, he stared in disgust as water soaked the back of Hikari's shirt, as if poured from an invisible source. This was _wrong_.

It slowly began to drip off her, and greyish-pink liquid splattered beneath her. The water was unclean. _Tainted._ Her shirt and shorts quickly became saturated, the slow dripping ramping up to a steady stream coming off her clothes. Takeru looked around in horror. Why was no one helping her? His friends seemed to mill about at the edge of his vision, oblivious to his growing panic. Did they not understand the danger here? Takeru could not for the life of him remember what this meant, but he knew it was bad.

Takeru lunged for her the same moment the girl slumped to the table, unconscious. He called to her, yelled for help, but never heard his own words. Water washed over Hikari's head, her short hair clinging to her scalp. Takeru held her to his chest, mind racing for some way to get this to stop.

A flicker of moment made his raise his head from Hikari's limp form. Taichi stood a few feet away, looking disinterestedly at him. It was as if he could not see his sister practically drowning in front of him. The blond boy felt a terrible pressure in his chest, if he could just talk to Taichi, if he could just get Taichi to see her, somehow things would be okay. Taichi always knew what to do. He struggled, the words clogging his throat. His mouth refused to move, and he stared pleadingly up at his former leader. He felt his time running out, water pouring over his arms faster than ever. He strained harder.

"Taichi!" Finally burst from his lips. Yet the older boy simply looked away slightly as if he hadn't heard a thing.

No. No no no _no no_ ….

Takeru nearly screamed in frustration as Hikari's brother casually walked away into the mists and out of sight. He was on his own. He looked back down at his friend in his arms, confusion and trepidation surging through him.

Hikari was glowing.

Takeru had seen her glow before. He knew that. But this was no healthy pink, nor pure white. It was uneven, peeking out in strange patterns beneath her clothes, glowing oddly through her soaked shirt. Ignoring all rules of social conduct, Takeru frantically yanked up the back of her shirt, revealing the smooth skin on her lower back. He froze.

Her entire back was covered in glowing writing. A language that looked similar to digicode, and was equally as unreadable to him. It let off a faint blue wavering light which would have been beautiful if he did not feel waves of malice and corruption rolling off them. Takeru held her tight, overwhelmed by how helpless he felt. Hikari shifted in his arms, the first mewl of discomfort escaping her. Tears prickled in Takeru's eyes as a heavy wave of water seemed to pour over them from nowhere. It stuck to her unnaturally, hanging on her form as if unwilling to let go of her. The cursed writing was everywhere, pulsing in an utterly nauseating manner.

In desperation Takeru whipped his head around, looking for someone who would help. Their friends were barely visible among the fog, but one stood out. Sora was staring at him in the same manner Taichi had. As if this was his one chance to say the right thing, she would fix everything.

Heart pounding in his ears, he opened his mouth to yell to her. A huge wave from above pounded over his head and his arms closed around nothing. Sudden silence nearly deafened him. Eyes trailing downward, they met a devastating scene. The table, the chairs they had been sitting in, Hikari… everything was gone. All he could see was a puddle of grey water. A panic unlike anything he had felt before welled in his chest. He looked around franticly. White fog greeted him from every direction. The others were no longer there. _There was nothing anywhere_. All he could hear was his own stuttering breath.

A scream built up in his throat.

Everything went dark.

* * *

Consciousness came slowly, his body and brain fighting each other. His body insisted he needed to sleep again, but something in his mind was protesting violently. He had to get up. Yet his body felt heavier than it ever had, bogged down and tangled in something hot. He was so unbearably hot. Kicking weakly, his sleep-logged mind registered that he was wrapped in a thick blanket. Takeru rolled over clumsily, and heard it slip to the floor. For a moment the lack of stifling heat was welcome, but the cooler air quickly swept away all comfort. He shivered uncontrollably. It was cold.

Cold.

His dream came back in disturbing flashes. The fog. Hikari soaked. Cold, dirty water washing over them both. He felt sick.

Very sick in fact. A sudden clench of his stomach and pressure under his tongue reminded him of why he so urgently needed to wake.

Oh lord, he was going to puke.

Takeru's eyes snapped open in panic and adrenaline forced him off the couch and towards the bathroom. He didn't make it. He did, however, manage to veer towards the kitchen sink at the last second. The boy thanked his lucky stars that the room was so dark. He really had no desire to see his own vomit right now. Nausea rolled over him, alternating in hot and cold waves that kept him trembling. His legs felt as if they might give out, and he leaned more of his weight onto the counter. Hikari was in danger. He had to warn her, get to her, protect her somehow… Now that he was awake the dream so obviously reeked of the Dark Ocean. There was no time to waste. Why wasn't he rushing to her?

A light turning on behind him half blinded him, sending his head pounding. He closed his eyes tightly and pressed his forehead to the cool surface of the kitchen counter.

"Oh honey, again?" A warm voice sounded from behind. Takeru turned his head slightly and squinted at the speaker. His mother stood in the doorway to her bedroom, sympathy written all over her face. She was in her bathrobe, slippers padding softly across the tile. With a gentle hand, she rubbed his back, then brushed his sweaty bangs out of his face when he raised his head to see her better.

"Mom?" Takeru asked, his voice hoarse. He was confused. Why hadn't he been in his bedroom? What time was it? He tried to think back, but everything before waking felt fuzzy. He didn't remember coming home from school at all.

Yet Natsuko smiled at him in relief, though he had no clue as to why. Didn't she know that something was terribly wrong? Takeru took a few shuddering breaths and attempted to calm his racing heart.

"Mom, I have to call Hikari." His voice shook with urgency. He had to make sure she was still there. Something in his gut insisted it was too late.

His mother's smile froze, and slowly slipped down into a resigned frown. She fiddled with a cabinet and handed her son a small cup of water. He rinsed his mouth out with half of it, then greedily drank the rest. She filled it a second time and held it in her hand, hesitating before speaking again.

"Takeru, sweetheart why don't you lie down? Come on, I'll help you." She hitched a smile back on her face and guided him to the living room.

He was powerless to resist. He still shook violently, his legs barely cooperating. He needed his mother's help back to the couch much more than a regular fifteen-year-old would like to admit. The chosen of hope collapsed back onto the cushions weakly. He felt awful, but he was still on a mission.

"I have to call Hikari, Mom. I have to make sure she's okay! I have to see!"

Natsuko was decidedly ignoring him as she pulled the blanket over him once more. His words went in one ear and out the other while she tucked him in and placed the cup of water on the coffee table. The only evidence he had of her hearing what he said was the steady change in her facial expression. Her fake, placating smile was pulling tight, straining with some emotion he did not understand.

"Please!" he cried, tears finally dripping onto his cheeks. Why was she doing this?

Her façade cracked at the sight of her son, and sudden tears brimmed in her eyes as well. That startled him enough to stop his pleading. His mother sat heavily beside him and took one of his hot hands in her cool ones. She peered at him curiously, appearing interested by his silence.

"Takeru?" she asked cautiously. "Honey, are you with me?"

Such a question confused him. He felt miserable and she wasn't listening to him, but he was here, wasn't he? What was that supposed to mean?

"Yes?" he answered softly, frowning up at her hopeful face.

Natsuko seemed to sag, squeezing Takeru's hands in hers.

"Oh, thank God," she muttered, closing her eyes for a moment. They stayed that way for a minute or so until Takeru couldn't wait anymore.

"Mom?"

"Yes baby?"

"I need to call Hikari," he said shakily.

She smiled wearily down at him, a tear still clinging to her lashes. A long breath escaped her.

"No, sweetheart, Hikari's okay. I promise. It was just a bad dream, nothing more."

"But it wasn't," he urged. She had to understand.

"No, Takeru," Natsuko said a bit more firmly. Then she softened again. "I promise Hikari is fine. She came by to drop off your homework this afternoon, but you were asleep. You have a very high fever," His mother glanced at the clock on the wall. "You've been sick and have been having horrible dreams all night. Do you remember anything at all? You've been pretty out of it."

She rubbed soothing circles on his shoulder with her thumb and he felt his heart finally start to slow. He'd been having fever dreams?

"So Hikari is safe?" He couldn't stop himself from asking once more.

"Yeah. And Yamato is too, he called when he got out of band practice, just like I said he would."

At that Takeru's stomach rolled. Something about that sounded familiar, and not good familiar either.

"What would be wrong with aniki?" The fear was clear in his voice.

"You woke up hours ago, absolutely hysterical, insisting that you had to see him. But he was in practice and I couldn't get him on the phone. You don't remember that at all?"

Takeru shook his head, disturbed at his lack of recollection.

His mother sighed and ran her hand through his hair comfortingly.

"Maybe that's for the best," she whispered. "I told you earlier, but I should probably tell you again. You have a doctor's appointment tomorrow." She peered at the clock. "Well, I suppose its technically in four hours. Why don't you try to get some more sleep? Your fever seems to have come down a little, but you're still hot."

Her hand paused on his forehead. It was so soft and cool compared to his flushed, sweaty face.

"You go back to sleep, honey, I'll stay until you fall asleep. Promise,"

Takeru nodded sleepily, eyelids drooping already.

"Love you."


End file.
